New State & Local Policies

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An outgrowth of the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s “high-road” economic policy think-tank, the Center On Wisconsin Strategy (COWS), The American Legislative and Issue Campaign Exchange (ALICE) presents itself as an alternative to the corporate-backed ALEC and promotes economic fairness, environmental sustainability, and effective democratic government. Their website acts as a one-stop public library of model progressive state and local law on a wide range of issues that can be searched by policy area, topic, level of government, and year.

Founded in 2001, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) supports the growth of sustainable local economies through connecting leaders, spreading solutions that work, and driving investment toward local economies. BALLE promotes localism and believes that ownership, place, opportunity, nature and relationships all matter in creating real prosperity for all. BALLE's website connects members to local business networks and affinity groups, promotes success stories, and provides resources to help local businesses better articulate their economic impact.

Local labor movements in a small but growing number of cities have embarked upon a long-term strategy to gain greater power in their regions. With revitalized central labor councils at the core, unions and allied groups are electing progressive champions, shifting the political debates to economic justice issues, and supporting the right of workers to organize. The Building Regional Power Research Project was established at Wayne State University to document and promote this work and contains a number of studies on efforts in different cities.

The Center conducts research and analysis to inform public debate over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that the needs of low-income families and individuals are considered in these debates. Through its State Fiscal Analysis Initiative, the Center now provides policy research and support in 30 states and the District of Columbia.

A nonprofit founded by Ralph Nader in 1968, the Center's primary focus is to empower citizens, especially students, to foster reform in areas such as environmental, consumer and worker health and safety issues. The center has published numerous books, which are listed on the website, conducted a variety of projects and research, and frequently hosts conferences. Nader and his organization encourage Americans to emphasize government and corporate accountability.

The CC Resource Center is an international multi-lingual resource for those interested in local, community, complementary, electronic, commercial barter, and alternative currency systems. The site contains a worldwide registry of CC systems, and open libraries with over 450 documents and 300 images.

Good Jobs First is a national advocacy organization that tracks corporate accountability legislation, including job quality standards (i.e., requirements that economic development subsidies lead to higher paying jobs), disclosure rules (i.e., requirements that the amount of the subsidies that each company receives be displayed in a form that is accessible to the public), and monitoring (i.e., requirements that part of the subsidy money be returned to the government if job employment and job quality commitments are not met). The website includes model legislation, as well as links to descriptions of state disclosure legislation.

This website, hosted by the Institute for Local Self Reliance, focuses on efforts to preserve independently owned retail establishments and resist the proliferation of big-box retailers. The site features articles on local disputes, as well as a number of economic impact studies that document the greater local economic multiplier effect of locally owned retail establishments.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) is the research arm of Citizens for Tax Justice. ITEP provides policymakers, advocates, and the public with timely information regarding state and federal tax regulations and how they affect taxpayers at different income levels.

This is the new web home of David Korten and his work on the New Economy and the Great Turning. This site offers a forum for learning and engaging in the transition to a global system of local-rooted, self-organizing, real-wealth living economies that mimic the structure and dynamics of the Earth’s biosphere.

The Michigan Land Use Institute promotes local economic self-reliance that is consistent with conserving open land and protecting clean air and clean water. The website includes a wide variety of publications on smart growth, economic development, and related issues, both in Michigan and nationally.

The National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce is a project of the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI), a nonprofit organization based in the South Bronx, New York. PHI's work is guided by the belief that creating quality jobs with living wages for direct-care workers is essential to providing high-quality, cost-effective services to long-term care consumers. The website tracks best practices in the industry and policy innovations at the state level.

The Office of Tax Policy Research at the University of Michigan Business School has two missions. First, to encourage and facilitate joint research on the tax system by economists and scholars of other disciplines; second, to serve as a liaison on tax issues among the academic, business, and policymaking tax communities. The Office draws on the substantial data resources and expertise already existing at the University of Michigan in these fields, and also involves scholars from outside the university.

Focused on progressive cities and neighborhood planning, this online resource provides insight into initiatives mainly from the 1970s into the 1990s, and some up to the present, that sought to fight back against regressive 1960s urban policies. This project is an effort to preserve and collect the historical record of these initiatives, to encourage additional scholarly research, and to stimulate and support related collections at the sites where the material is generated. Additionally, blog posts are added periodically and expand upon the gathered materials.

This member directory, provided by TimeBanks USA, lists both member and non-member time banks across the U.S. along with contact information in one convenient location. A time bank is an institution where community members can “deposit” hours they spent working in the community in order to earn time when someone else works for them. This give-and-take approach to building communities breeds mutual value and respect that goes beyond the exchange of money.

This website, organized by Good Jobs First, tracks the more than $1.2 billion Wal-Mart has received in tax breaks, free land, infrastructure assistance, low-cost financing and outright grants from state and local governments around the country. An interactive map allows the website user to determine how much subsidy his or her state has provided.

An outgrowth of the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s “high-road” economic policy think-tank, the Center On Wisconsin Strategy (COWS), The American Legislative and Issue Campaign Exchange (ALICE) presents itself as an alternative to the corporate-backed ALEC and promotes economic fairness, environmental sustainability, and effective democratic government. Their website acts as a one-stop public library of model progressive state and local law on a wide range of issues that can be searched by policy area, topic, level of government, and year.

Founded in 2001, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) supports the growth of sustainable local economies through connecting leaders, spreading solutions that work, and driving investment toward local economies. BALLE promotes localism and believes that ownership, place, opportunity, nature and relationships all matter in creating real prosperity for all. BALLE's website connects members to local business networks and affinity groups, promotes success stories, and provides resources to help local businesses better articulate their economic impact.

Local labor movements in a small but growing number of cities have embarked upon a long-term strategy to gain greater power in their regions. With revitalized central labor councils at the core, unions and allied groups are electing progressive champions, shifting the political debates to economic justice issues, and supporting the right of workers to organize. The Building Regional Power Research Project was established at Wayne State University to document and promote this work and contains a number of studies on efforts in different cities.

The Center conducts research and analysis to inform public debate over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that the needs of low-income families and individuals are considered in these debates. Through its State Fiscal Analysis Initiative, the Center now provides policy research and support in 30 states and the District of Columbia.

A nonprofit founded by Ralph Nader in 1968, the Center's primary focus is to empower citizens, especially students, to foster reform in areas such as environmental, consumer and worker health and safety issues. The center has published numerous books, which are listed on the website, conducted a variety of projects and research, and frequently hosts conferences. Nader and his organization encourage Americans to emphasize government and corporate accountability.

The CC Resource Center is an international multi-lingual resource for those interested in local, community, complementary, electronic, commercial barter, and alternative currency systems. The site contains a worldwide registry of CC systems, and open libraries with over 450 documents and 300 images.

Good Jobs First is a national advocacy organization that tracks corporate accountability legislation, including job quality standards (i.e., requirements that economic development subsidies lead to higher paying jobs), disclosure rules (i.e., requirements that the amount of the subsidies that each company receives be displayed in a form that is accessible to the public), and monitoring (i.e., requirements that part of the subsidy money be returned to the government if job employment and job quality commitments are not met). The website includes model legislation, as well as links to descriptions of state disclosure legislation.

This website, hosted by the Institute for Local Self Reliance, focuses on efforts to preserve independently owned retail establishments and resist the proliferation of big-box retailers. The site features articles on local disputes, as well as a number of economic impact studies that document the greater local economic multiplier effect of locally owned retail establishments.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) is the research arm of Citizens for Tax Justice. ITEP provides policymakers, advocates, and the public with timely information regarding state and federal tax regulations and how they affect taxpayers at different income levels.

This is the new web home of David Korten and his work on the New Economy and the Great Turning. This site offers a forum for learning and engaging in the transition to a global system of local-rooted, self-organizing, real-wealth living economies that mimic the structure and dynamics of the Earth’s biosphere.

The Michigan Land Use Institute promotes local economic self-reliance that is consistent with conserving open land and protecting clean air and clean water. The website includes a wide variety of publications on smart growth, economic development, and related issues, both in Michigan and nationally.

The National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce is a project of the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI), a nonprofit organization based in the South Bronx, New York. PHI's work is guided by the belief that creating quality jobs with living wages for direct-care workers is essential to providing high-quality, cost-effective services to long-term care consumers. The website tracks best practices in the industry and policy innovations at the state level.

The Office of Tax Policy Research at the University of Michigan Business School has two missions. First, to encourage and facilitate joint research on the tax system by economists and scholars of other disciplines; second, to serve as a liaison on tax issues among the academic, business, and policymaking tax communities. The Office draws on the substantial data resources and expertise already existing at the University of Michigan in these fields, and also involves scholars from outside the university.

Focused on progressive cities and neighborhood planning, this online resource provides insight into initiatives mainly from the 1970s into the 1990s, and some up to the present, that sought to fight back against regressive 1960s urban policies. This project is an effort to preserve and collect the historical record of these initiatives, to encourage additional scholarly research, and to stimulate and support related collections at the sites where the material is generated. Additionally, blog posts are added periodically and expand upon the gathered materials.

This member directory, provided by TimeBanks USA, lists both member and non-member time banks across the U.S. along with contact information in one convenient location. A time bank is an institution where community members can “deposit” hours they spent working in the community in order to earn time when someone else works for them. This give-and-take approach to building communities breeds mutual value and respect that goes beyond the exchange of money.

This website, organized by Good Jobs First, tracks the more than $1.2 billion Wal-Mart has received in tax breaks, free land, infrastructure assistance, low-cost financing and outright grants from state and local governments around the country. An interactive map allows the website user to determine how much subsidy his or her state has provided.